The Milky Way is a 1936 American comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. Directed by comedy veteran Leo McCarey, the film was written by Grover Jones, Frank Butler and Richard Connell based on a play of the same name by Lynn Root and Harry Clork which was presented on Broadway in 1934.

An example of the popular screwball comedy genre of the time, and critically Harold Lloyd’s most successful talkie, it tells the story of a Brooklyn milkman who becomes middleweight boxing champion. The Milky Way features supporting performances by Adolphe Menjou and Verree Teasdale.

Plot
Timid milkman Burleigh Sullivan (Lloyd) works for the American company, Sunflower Dairies. Two drunk men try to chat up Mae, Burleigh’s sister, and he chances by. In an ensuing brawl, Speed McFarland, the world middleweight champion, gets knocked out (but Burleigh never in fact threw a punch; he merely ducked to get out of the way of a punch which brought the champ down).

McFarland’s boss, the crooked Gabby Sloan (Adolphe Menjou), decides to promote Sullivan in a series of fixed fights that will culminate in him being knocked out in a real fight with McFarland. Against all the odds, Sullivan triumphs and becomes world champion.

Cast
Harold Lloyd as Burleigh “Tiger” Sullivan
Adolphe Menjou as Gabby Sloan (Speed’s manager)
Verree Teasdale as Ann Westley
Helen Mack as Mae Sullivan (Burleigh’s sister)
William Gargan as Speed McFarland (middleweight champ)
George Barbier as Wilbur Austin
Dorothy Wilson as Polly Pringle
Lionel Stander as Spider Schultz (Speed’s bodyguard)
Charles Lane as Willard
Marjorie Gateson as Mrs. E. Winthrop Lemoyne